KOVR Under Fire from Pro-Life Group After Report About Graphic Anti-Abortion Flyers

A group of pro-life volunteers called Project Truth says Sacramento CBS owned station KOVR aired a false report about the group handing out anti-abortion flyers to local schoolkids.

The story in question said the group is handing out flyers to kids under the age of 18 and that the kids are tearing up the flyers and creating a mess near the school.

The legal group representing Project Truth claims KOVR staged the story by hiring an actor to pretend he was part of the pro-life outreach.

According to the Christian Newswire, “The Life Legal Defense Foundation is demanding that KOVR: Issue an apology to Project Truth for the false report. Report a follow up to the story correcting the falsehoods promulgated by reporter Anjalie Hemphill. Denounce the threats of violence and hate speech listed in the comments section of the story on the station’s website.”

KOVR told TVSpy, “The station stands by its reporting.”

The night after airing the original story, the station ran a follow up with the group’s response, “The information handed out … is factual information that the schools frequently censure. We provide helpful information that will allow students to make completely informed decisions concerning abortion.”

“We certainly hope that this can be resolved without resorting to filing a civil lawsuit, but we will keep all options on the table for our clients,” Allison Aranda, senior staff counsel at Life Legal Defense Foundation said in a statement. “What is most disconcerting to us is that this news report was broadcast three days after our clients were distributing literature to students in the area. And yet, KOVR staged the story and apparently hired an actor to look as if he was part of the pro-life outreach! This type of false and misleading reporting cannot go unchecked. At a minimum, we will file a complaint with the FCC if our request falls on deaf ears.”

On its website, The Life Legal Defense Foundation’s mission statement reads, “The mission of Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF) is to give innocent and helpless human beings of any age, particularly unborn children, a trained and committed defense against the threat of death, and to support their advocates in the nation’s courtrooms. LLDF will accomplish its mission and purpose through the law and education.”

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